Kirill Alekseyevich Yevstigneyev (russian: Кирилл Алексеевич Евстигнеев; – 29 August 1996) was a Soviet

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

and one of the top Soviet aces of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During his career he claimed 53 solo and 3 shared aerial victories flying the

Lavochkin La-5 The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's inline engine with the much more powerful Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engine. ...

and

La-7 The Lavochkin La-7 (russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the la ...

fighters.

Early life

Yevstigneyev was born into a Russian peasant family on in the village of Khokhly, Chelyabinsky Uyezd,

Orenburg Governorate Orenburg Governorate (russian: Оренбургская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire with the center in the city of Orenburg, Ufa (1802-1865). The governorate was created in 1744 from ...

, in what is now the

Shumikhinsky District Shumikhinsky District (russian: Шуми́хинский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #316 and municipalLaw #419 district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Kurgan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of the ...

Kurgan Oblast Kurgan Oblast (russian: Курга́нская о́бласть, ''Kurganskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. In June 2014, the population was estimated to be 874,100,Kurgan ...

, in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

's trans-Urals. He completed seven grades of schooling in 1935 before moving on to vocational school. He trained as a fitter-turner and upon graduation in 1936 moved to work at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, where he joined the local aeroclub which he graduated from in 1938.

Early military career

In September 1938 Yevstigneyev entered the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. After completing initial training in 1939, he was stationed at a base in the Russian Far East until April 1940. In January 1941, he graduated from the Birm Military School of Pilots in the

Amur region Amur Oblast ( rus, Аму́рская о́бласть, r=Amurskaya oblast, p=ɐˈmurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrative ...

, after which he became a flight instructor on the

I-16 I16 may refer to: * Interstate 16, an interstate highway in the U.S. state of Georgia * Polikarpov I-16, a Soviet fighter aircraft introduced in the 1930s * Halland Regiment * , a Japanese Type C submarine * i16, a name for the 16-bit signed integ ...

. In late October 1942 he was reassigned to Moscow to become acquainted with foreign-made fighters. While in Moscow, he and fellow sergeant

Ivan Kozhedub Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (Russian: Иван Hикитович Кожедуб; Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб; 8 June 1920 – 8 August 1991) was a Soviet World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo vict ...

came to the attention of I. S. Soldatenko, the commander of the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Soldatenko selected them for his regiment in November, and by March 1943 they were deployed to the front.

World War II combat service

On 28 March 1943, during his first dogfight, near the village of Urazovo in the

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

province, he shot down a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

and gained shared shootdown of a

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

after engaging a group of nine Ju 88. On 5 August 1943, flying a close air-support sortie on the approach to Belgorod, Yestigneyev was shot down by friendly fire. After barely managing to parachute out of his burning plane he had to be taken to a field hospital due to the extent of wounds in both his feet. There he had to repeatedly dissuade surgeons from amputating his left foot, but ended up escaping after nine days and traveling 35 km to the nearest airfield on crutches. He found his way back to his airfield to finish his recovery there. Not long after being wounded and still on crutches, he flew his next combat sortie. That month he was appointed commander of the second squadron, and gained his tenth solo victory on 16 August 1943. Between March and November 1943, he completed 144 combat sorties, gaining 23 solo and three shared victories, for which he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He received it on the 2nd of August, 1944. He was again awarded title on 23 February 1945 while he was a captain and squadron commander. In July 1944, the 240th Fighter Regiment was honored with the guards designation and renamed to the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Yevstigneyev scored his last aerial victory on 26 March 1945 when he shot down an

Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

over Budapest. At the end of the war he was a Major; over the course of the war, he flew 283 combat missions, engaged in 119 dogfights, and gained 53 solo and three shared aerial victories. He flew in a variety of major battles including the ones for a

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Postwar

In 1949 he finished several Tactical Aviation Courses, and by 1955 served at the Military Aviation Academy. By 1960 he was on the Military Academy of General Staff. He then became Major General of aviation in 1966, from 1972 he served in the reserve. After retirement he lived in Moscow, where he died on 29 August 1996. He is buried at the Kuntsevskoe cemetery in Moscow. A bronze bust of him stands in Shumikha, Kurgan province, near the village of his birth.

Awards and decorations

*Twice

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

(2 August 1944 and 23 February 1945) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(2 August 1944) *Four

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(11 October 1943, 26 October 1943, 22 February 1945, and 22 February 1968) *

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...

3rd class (2 October 1943) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

1st class (11 March 1985) *

2nd class (30 April 1943) *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

(3 November 1953) *

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(1943) *campaign and commemorative medals

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yevstigneyev, Kirill 1917 births 1996 deaths People from Kurgan Oblast People from Chelyabinsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet major generals Soviet Air Force generals Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Soviet World War II flying aces Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 3rd class Members of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery